Gareth Nicollet had been born into wealth, but he’d learned at an early age that money wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be. Regrettably, he’d made a meaningful choice early on in his life that now threatened his future with the woman he loved.

Cynthia Ellsworth valued many things, but trust and loyalty were at the top of her list. She’d always known the man who shared her bed had secrets, but she never thought in a million years that he had the ability to destroy her career and her heart with a single blow.

Someone once said that greed was balanced by fear, but that wasn’t entirely true when there was nothing left to lose. Unfortunately, Gareth’s secret is the very reason the roulette wheel is spinning and Cynthia’s life hangs in the balance.

EXCERPT

Gareth refused to back down from this, because she’d become too important to him to just walk away. Yes, he’d omitted certain facts about his past, but she sure as hell hadn’t given him the opportunity to come clean with her, had she?

It was almost as if Cynthia had expected him to give up and walk out of this office as if their relationship had meant nothing to either of them. She stood resolutely in front of him, searching his gaze as if she expected him to abandon her.

“Lead the way, Cyn.”

Gareth had fully intended his nickname for her to penetrate the barriers she’d solidified into place since he’d last seen her, right before Grace Dorrance had been arrested for murder. Whatever had taken place in that time had convinced her that they should no longer be together.

That conclusion was unacceptable to him.

She finally made her decision and guided them both down the carpeted hallway. Neither of them spoke again until the door to her office had been silently closed behind them. It didn’t go amiss that she’d immediately placed the desk as a shield between them, although she remained standing so as not to give an inch of ground.

“Do you want to tell me what that phone call was about?” Gareth figured a great offense beat a good defensive every time. He stepped forward until the front of his legs were touching her desk. “I left your bed to catch a flight to Dubai with the promise of returning so that we could talk about our future, only to have you leave a voicemail telling me that we should take a break. That we should take a step back. It’s not like you to run away without explaining why.”

It was more than apparent by the way Cynthia inhaled sharply that she hadn’t expected him to ignore the fact that he was Brad’s biological brother. Good. They needed this cleared up before he shared such a personal aspect of his life anyway.

“I did no such thing,” Cynthia countered, crossing her arms in a protective manner. She didn’t like being on the defensive, but then again, neither did he. “In case you aren’t up to speed, which I know for a fact that you spoke with Smith, Grace was arrested for Brad’s murder. I was busy dealing with the fallout where one of my dear friends might be spending the rest of her life in prison for a crime she didn’t commit, which all but proved to me that mixing business with pleasure was a mistake on our part.”

Cynthia held up a hand when he would have disputed her findings, especially over a situation that had nothing to do with them.

“You seem to be forgetting that you threatened Brad’s life the week before he was killed in cold blood. Do you even realize the position you put me in with my colleagues, friends, and even the police? Everyone in this office heard your threats, and they all knew the reason why— because Brad asked that I sever our relationship.”

“And you know that Brad Manon had no right to ask that of you.” Gareth was getting sick and tired of having to keep his distance from her, but she still had her arms wrapped around herself. “Have you taken a good look at Grace and Rye Marshall? The man owns another firm that directly competes with Manon Investments. She handles all the trades, Cyn. You don’t see a conflict of interest with that? I was a client long before you took the job as compliance officer. Brad’s request had nothing to do with business and everything to do with me personally.”

He’d walked right into that trap. That confession was exactly the one she’d wanted to hear.

Cynthia’s arms dropped to her sides before she leaned forward to make sure she drilled home the point she was about to make.

“I couldn’t have known that though, because you didn’t see fit to tell me that you were Brad’s brother.” Cynthia’s tone had become hard and her blue eyes displayed nothing other than anger. He’d delayed too long in sharing his history with her, and now he was set to pay the price. Only she didn’t know that he was good at bartering. “I know exactly where I stand, Gareth. There’s no need for you to spell it out for me. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t share your connection to Brad with the police.”

“What makes you think I haven’t done so?”

Gareth didn’t take any satisfaction when Cynthia blinked and drew back to her previous position. She observed him rather cautiously as he slowly made his way around the desk, entirely finished with having an obstacle between them. She’d been throwing up way too many barriers as it was. He didn’t stop closing the remaining distance until the tips of her black high heels were touching his dress shoes.

“Let me get this straight,” Cynthia said as she did her best to control the tremor in her voice. He’d heard it anyway, which gave him the confidence that she wasn’t washing her hands of their relationship. “You were comfortable enough with Detective Nielsen to tell him your family history, and yet you couldn’t do the same with the woman you’ve shared a bed with for the past eight months?”

Her ability to set a trap was unlimited. When would he learn?

“I know it doesn’t sound good when you put it like that, but isn’t that the exact excuse you were looking for to end things between us? You needed an excuse and this personal bit of information is just what you were looking for.” Gareth caught Cynthia’s quick inhalation at his accusation, but she sure as hell didn’t deny the claim. Her lashes lowered when he slowly reached out to cup her cheek. He needed her to really hear what he was about to say. “Before you were even aware of my connection to Brad, you left me a voicemail telling me that we should take a break. You knew I was thousands of miles away and that there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it until I came home.”

“Unlike your reasoning, my actions were for your benefit,” Cynthia whispered, purposefully stepping back so that she was out of his reach. Her anger was waning though, which was what he’d been waiting for ever since he’d walked into this office. He’d learned early on that she wasn’t a woman to be messed with when she had an objective in mind. “You can’t say the same, and now I know where I stand.”

Gareth shouldn’t have done it, but he instinctively reached out and pulled her to him until there wasn’t a bit of air between them. She knew where she stood with him? No, she didn’t. Not even close.

“I think about you every second of every day,” Gareth muttered, wrapping his fingers around the back of her neck in order to tilt her head just so in order to claim her lips. Heat instantly spread through his body as if she’d lit a match. This woman had no idea just how much she affected him, but as she’d just pointed out… that was his fault because he hadn’t moved fast enough. “Where do you stand? Right in front of me, Cyn. Right in front of me.”

Gareth kissed her as he’d dreamt about every night he’d been away from her side. It didn’t surprise him that she gave as much as she took. Her sexual preferences matched his in their depth. It was their emotional hang-ups thatheld them from moving forward.

It was time to rewrite the course of history.

He slowly ended their kiss, sensing the exact second she was no longer caught up in the moment. She rested her palms on the front of his suit jacket as she struggled for air and tensed her shoulders. He spoke before she could shut him down.

“My name is Gareth Nicollet. I was adopted into a wonderful family as an infant and only later got to know my birth mother. It’s not something I can easily talk about, especially with a woman who’s set such critical and exacting boundaries in our relationship.” Gareth didn’t give Cynthia the space she obviously wanted, opting to stay where he was directly in front of her. He didn’t want to miss a single expression flash in those baby blues of hers.

“I’m willing to shift some of those boundaries, Cyn. Are you prepared to do the same?”

Kennedy Layne

About Kennedy

Kennedy Layne is a USA TODAY bestselling author. She draws inspiration for her military romantic suspense novels in part from her not-so-secret second life as a wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant. He doubles as her critique partner, beta reader, and military consultant. They live in the Midwest with their teenage son and menagerie of pets. The loyal dogs and mischievous cats appreciate her writing days as much as she does, usually curled up in front of the fireplace. She loves hearing from readers—find out how to connect with her at www.kennedylayne.com.